The NRL is considering assisting clubs to recruit players from outside the competition - even if they can't fit them in their salary cap.

While the radical proposal would not have helped South Sydney retain Sam Burgess, it would have prevented Israel Folau being lost to rugby union after Parramatta were unable to accommodate him in their salary cap.

The idea was one of nine possible changes to salary cap rules discussed at last Friday's meeting of NRL club bosses in Auckland, which also included:

❏ Including transfer fees, such as the $300,000 Brisbane paid Canterbury to release fullback Ben Barba, in the cap;

❏ Rolling the existing marquee player allowance into an increased salary cap;

❏ Clubs putting up a $10,000 bond to appeal salary cap rulings and a further $30,000 bond to take the issue to a hearing;

❏ Lifting the second-tier salary cap to $440,000 to avoid situations such as Luke Brooks and Matt Moylan being prevented from playing NRL last year; and,

❏ Extending the long-serving player allowance to include those who had played six years with a club.

Folau and fellow AFL defector Karmichael Hunt would be obvious targets, along with members of the All Blacks, England and Wales rugby union teams, if clubs were given salary cap dispensation for signing players from outside the NRL.

However, there is a fear clubs would also raid Super League for more talent like Burgess, Sam Tomkins and James Graham.

With many in the game forced to cringe every time Folau runs out for the Wallabies, former Queensland deputy premier and treasurer Andrew Fraser - a consultant to the NRL on salary cap reform - has proposed changes to ensure such a situation does not occur again.

Sydney Roosters would have also been able to secure Sonny Bill Williams without going through all the hurdles that resulted in the club being fined after signing him on an eight-month contract NRL salary cap auditor Ian Schubert refused to register until just days before his first game last season.

Fairfax Media was told that no one from the NRL would discuss the proposed salary cap changes but several bosses said there had been a lengthy discussion last Friday about assisting clubs to sign big-name stars from outside the game that they could not fit under their cap.

Under Fraser's proposal, a club in the situation that Parramatta faced when Folau quit GWS Giants would go to the NRL, who would effectively put his contract out to tender to other clubs. If another club had more room under their cap they could then forward an offer but if the player only wanted to live in Sydney or insisted on joining a certain club it would then be up to NRL chief executive Dave Smith to decide whether to allow the club to exceed the cap.

The NRL could also assist clubs to sign players from outside the game by offering them an ''ambassador'' payment but Fairfax Media was told only one or two players were likely to be offered such a role and they would have to be considered able to assist the profile of the code. While most clubs are opposed to the idea, those Fairfax Media spoke to praised Fraser for being prepared to table such a proposal for debate before next Monday's annual general meeting.

Clubs were also pleased there would now be a formal appeals process for salary cap rulings, although they will forfeit their bond if unsuccessful. However, Schubert cautioned against dramatic changes to the system he ruled over for 16 years.

''It's not necessarily what you want to change but what happens further down the line,'' Schubert told AAP at the NSWRL's Hogs for the Homeless launch on Thursday. ''The richer clubs can get further away and whilst you don't want to hold them back, you are trying to bring the others up, there is a certain point at which that turns and then it does favour the richer clubs.

''But there has been a big review gone on the last 12 to 18 months - what comes out of that I'm not too sure but the bottom line was it wasn't too far broken. Of course the thing to consider if you do make change is the flow-on effect.

''The even competition was one of the goals we set out to achieve and we probably did that better than what we thought we might have at the outset. It was an integral part of it.''

The NRL is considering assisting clubs to recruit players from outside the competition - even if they can't fit them in their salary cap.

While the radical proposal would not have helped South Sydney retain Sam Burgess, it would have prevented Israel Folau being lost to rugby union after Parramatta were unable to accommodate him in their salary cap.

OK - DCE, end of Season you walk out - follow up by signing for the Freshwater Tiddlywinks - then contract to Manly RL for life under this brilliant ambassador proposal

❏ Including transfer fees, such as the $300,000 Brisbane paid Canterbury to release fullback Ben Barba, in the cap;
Does it mean that Dogs Cap increases by 300k or that Broncos cap decreases by 300k :huh:

❏ Rolling the existing marquee player allowance into an increased salary cap;
About time.

❏ Clubs putting up a $10,000 bond to appeal salary cap rulings and a further $30,000 bond to take the issue to a hearing;
Along the lines of MRC - inhibit communication between NRL and Clubs :dodgy:

❏ Lifting the second-tier salary cap to $440,000 to avoid situations such as Luke Brooks and Matt Moylan being prevented from playing NRL last year; and,
I can't believe its this low - Manly just signed mASADA to a second-tier contract :huh:

❏ Extending the long-serving player allowance to include those who had played six years with a club.
About time - must be 6 consecutive years though

"Sydney Roosters would have also been able to secure Sonny Bill Williams without going through all the hurdles that resulted in the club being fined after signing him on an eight-month contract NRL salary cap auditor Ian Schubert refused to register until just days before his first game last season." Part of the article as produced on the site quoted with my own emphasis added.

So does this mean that the Rooters had a salary cap fine last year when they signed SBW? Does this mean that Manly has been beaten in a grand final by a team that breached the salary cap similar to Melbourne in 2007?

This is the first I have heard of it. So if correct another Grand Final in which we were robbed again.

Further, this article appears to question or to allude to the auditor's independence. Therefore the question is; was salary cap auditor Ian Schubert pressured in any way to register the contract or to do something beyond his independence as an auditor?

Of course I'll always believe that the auditor is and was totally unbiased and totally independent. Further, I would suggest that the NRL had and has procedures in place to maintain such independence.

But conspiracy theorists might take some different view in that it was interesting or coincidental that both Shayne Hayne and Ian Schubert both retired last year after the grand final. (Of course I would not suggest anything such as impropriety on anyone's part including the NRL and all who work within the professionally run system of the NRL. (Darn, I can't find my tin-hat, it's been stolen by those Martians again.)

I am just waiting to be taken up to the "Mother Ship" in a few minutes so bye.

To quote some lyrics of some old songs in part; "my bags are packed and I'm ready to go. The cab is here and blowing his horn, I'd love to wake you up to say goodbye."

Former auditor Ian Schubert has cautioned the NRL about making dramatic changes to the salary cap he ruled over for 16 years.

As the long-awaited review into the salary cap nears its conclusion, the cap's chief architect says any changes made should not tinker too much with the equalising mechanism for fear it could irrevocably alter the fabric of the NRL competition.

So does this mean that the Rooters had a salary cap fine last year when they signed SBW? Does this mean that Manly has been beaten in a grand final by a team that breached the salary cap similar to Melbourne in 2007?

Click to expand...

WE copped a fine too when we were trying to get Brett's contract through before rd.1 last year. But why let facts ruin a good story?

They need to extend the club time discount to 10+ years as well, make the player's contract completely excluded for the salary cap if they have played for your club for say 10 or 12 years straight. Get loyalty back into the system. They also need some sort of discount for retaining juniors